Related Articles

Transformational leaders have the ability to view work processes, strategies, products and services in a way that very few others can. In doing so, they inspire their team members to think outside the box, streamline outdated processes, and change systems that have become obstacles to productivity. The key characteristic of transformational leadership is the willingness to take bold, risky actions that aren’t in the mainstream. Whether you’re the head of a startup, or you’re a seasoned entrepreneur, it’s never too late to use successful transformational leadership examples to boost the success of your own business.

Transformation in Computer Systems Industry

After working at a sales position at IBM for several years, H. Ross Perot launched Electric Data Systems in 1962, building and repairing computer systems for its clients. Instead of simply using what he had learned at IBM, Perot went out of his way to do things differently by empowering his employees to satisfy EDS’s clients without having to wait for supervisor approval. Perot’s time with IBM convinced him that pleasing customers was more achievable if rank-and-file employees were given the authority to make smart decisions without the delay of having to seek approval from middle management. Perot believed that traditional top-down strategic planning was an obstacle to making quick decisions. His focus was on getting the deal done as quickly and as efficiently as possible by eliminating all potential barriers. In 1984, Perot sold EDS to GM for $2.6 billion.

Transformation in Streaming Entertainment Industry

Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, is one of the most successful examples of transformational leadership in the past decade. Netflix, founded in 1997, is a subscription-based video streaming service that offers original content such as its own movies and TV shows, as well as films and series from other networks and producers. When Hastings first launched Netflix, it was a DVD rental company that quickly surpassed Blockbuster as a favorite of movie lovers. But Hastings had a larger vision, one that wasn’t hampered by years of toiling in the entertainment business. In fact, Hastings had previously worked in the software industry, so he had no pre-conceived notions about how to run a streaming entertainment company.

That freedom allowed him to introduce bold, new ideas, the biggest of which was a push into original content. Hastings and his team revolutionized the use of complex algorithms about viewer consumption to create their own original content that would match the needs of their subscribers. The bold gambit paid off, and as of the first quarter of 2018, Netflix has 125 million subscribers, nearly three times more than HBO. In 2018, Netflix also broke HBO’s 17-year streak for the most Emmy nominations in a year by earning 112 nominations to HBO’s 108 nominations.

Transformation in the Bookselling Industry

In 1994, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was a little-known online company that sold books at a discount, hoping to break even. Under Jeff Bezos's leadership, Amazon has grown into a titanic corporation that dominates various industries, including books, retail, food and electronics, which previously had been off-limits to an online company. Bezos, a former veteran of the financial industry, gambled that he could sell books better than publishers and bookstore owners could by offering discounts, encouraging reader reviews, and celebrating mass readership of bestsellers, instead of focusing mostly on the literary darlings of the publishing industry. After boosting his company’s stock by 5,000 percent from 1997 to 1999, Bezos transformed the bookselling industry a second time with the first e-readers, known as Kindles. Bezos revolutionized reading by offering a device that could transform a printed paperback or hardcover books into digital content, which changed the experience of engaging with an author. By disrupting the traditional business model of bookselling, Bezos established a behemoth that has a value of more than $900 billion, as of July, 2018.

About the Author

Sampson Quain is an experienced content writer with a wide range of expertise in small business, digital marketing, SEO marketing, SEM marketing, and social media outreach. He has written primarily for the EHow brand of Demand Studios as well as business strategy sites such as Digital Authority.